SAT / ACT Prep Online Guides and Tips

Do you have a blood pressure reading and are unsure about what it means? Do you actually have high blood pressure? What blood pressure ranges do you fall under?

The blood pressure chart in this article and its accompanying guidelines will help you determine exactly what your reading means and whether you should take action to avoid health problems in the future. We'll tell you what the major blood pressure ranges are, and how to lower your high blood pressure.

Belly button piercings may appear totally cool and effortless from an outside perspective, but they actually require serious commitment if you want them to look good in the long run. They heal slower than many other types of body piercings, and they require a significant amount of aftercare.

This guide will take you through the piercing process and show you how to avoid potential problems as you heal. If you follow this advice, you'll be showing off a piercing that is both stylish and healthy in no time!

In studying The Crucible, you will inevitably be faced with questions about the play's connections to the "Red Scare" of the 1950s and the phenomenon known as McCarthyism. These connections are important because they demonstrate that The Crucible is not merely a (highly adapted) retelling of historical events but also an allegorical reference to the timelessness of certain central human flaws.

In this article, I'll provide historical background on McCarthyism, tell you about Arthur Miller's personal involvement with the investigations of alleged communists in the 1950s, and explain how and why interpretations of The Crucible are so closely tied to the political attitudes and events of that decade.

In Act 3 of The Crucible, we meet the judges who have been conducting the witch trials. John Proctor and Mary Warren finally confront the court with the truth, but, as you'll see, the truth has limited currency when it doesn't align with what people have already chosen to believe. I'll include short and long summaries of Act 3, a list of the most important quotes, and a thematic analysis covering the events of this part of the play.   

Finally, a practice test from the ACT with a name that doesn't include a corny inspirational verb! That's right - the ACT is rolling out a new test called the PreACT this upcoming school year. It's similar to its SAT counterpart, the PSAT, although not exactly the same. In this article, I'll tell you what's on the PreACT, how its different from the PSAT, and what it means for you as a student. 

SAT Reading questions are notoriously tricky. They'll ask you to analyze passages in unfamiliar ways that seem confusing if you're not used to the format. It's helpful to have a basic game-plan for approaching tough Reading questions to make the Reading and Writing section less overwhelming. This article lays out a step-by-step process for interpreting Reading questions and lists a few tricks you should look out for to avoid making careless mistakes.

The new SAT challenges students to understand the reasoning behind each answer they pick. Command of Evidence questions are a manifestation of this mission. In order to answer them, you have to carefully evaluate your thought process and the evidence presented by the author of the passage.

This article will focus on the evidence questions on the Reading section of the SAT; we have a separate article on Writing questions. In this guide, I'll tell you exactly what these questions test, what kinds there are, and how you can learn to answer them correctly every time!  

The ACT Reading section is challenging for many students because of the intense focus required to answer questions accurately in such a short time frame. Quickly getting to the root of each question is tough, but it's definitely a skill that you can learn with practice. This guide will present an example-driven step-by-step process for interpreting ACT Reading questions and give you the inside scoop on some of the sneakiest tricks the Reading section has up its sleeve. 

Change is scary, and the SAT was already kind of scary in the first place, so you might be feeling apprehensive about the new test. Good news: It's possible that the new SAT will be easier for some (or even most!) students. In this article, I'll go through some predictions about which aspects of the new SAT have the potential to make it a less challenging test and which types of students are most likely to benefit.

Significant changes are coming to the SAT in 2016, but the effect they'll have on the student experience is debatable. Is the new SAT harder? It's impossible to tell for sure without any data on new score patterns.

In the meantime, we can make a few predictions for how the changes to the format and content of the test could increase its difficulty. In this article, I'll give you an overview of the changes to the test, list some factors that might make it more challenging, and suggest study strategies for students who may struggle on the new SAT.

After considering the quality of academics at a college, you should also look at the pros and cons of living in the area where the school is located. You don't want to be stuck somewhere that's unfriendly to college students or has zero entertainment options. Being able to eat off-campus is also important for when you get sick of the dining halls! I'll give you a list of the best college towns in the country so that you can learn more about some of the great places that you might have the opportunity to call home for the next four years or more.  

One of the biggest decisions you’ll make in the process of choosing a college is where in the country you’d like to be. There are some ways that location can impact your college experience and other ways that it can be irrelevant. I’ll give you an overview of why or why not location might matter to you and how you can make an informed choice about where to go!

Most people have ideas about Greek life that are based on pop culture stereotypes of fraternities and sororities. However, Greek life isn’t supposed to be about wild parties, “bro culture,” and superficial judgments (although those things can come into play). Fraternities and sororities are often great communities where you’ll make lifelong friends. In this article, I’ll give you an overview of what Greek life is, its pluses and minuses, and whether you should go to a school with fraternities and sororities.

The college application process can be a long and difficult journey for high school students. Organizing your application materials well in advance and paying attention to deadlines is critical. You should also start researching colleges earlier rather than later so that you can account for each school's specific application requirements.

In this infographic, I've broken down the actions you need to take to be prepared for college applications starting at the beginning of your junior year through to your senior spring.

The definition of a "good" SAT score is tough to pinpoint. It depends significantly on the types of colleges you're looking at and how much you've improved from your baseline scores.

The infographic in this article will go through statistics on the national level and at different colleges to give you a better sense of what a good score might mean for you. This data should help you to see your score from a more informed perspective and decide whether you need to keep working on it to make improvements.